Voters give Harris four more years

Megan EdwardsPublished: November 8, 2006 12:00AM

By MEGAN EDWARDS
T-G Staff Writer
Senator Bill Harris will represent the 19th District in the state Senate for four more years.
Voters Tuesday chose Harris, a Republican, over Democrat Thomas Burkhart for the district that covers five southern townships in Ashland County and Knox, Richland, Morrow and Delaware counties.
Out of 4,781 votes total in Ashland County, Harris won by 64.17 percent, or 3,068 votes, beating Burkhart by 35.83 percent, or 1,713 votes.
In other counties in the district, Harris had a comfortable lead over Burkhart by the end of the night.
"I'm always very humbled when I see the support I get from the 19th district," Harris said Tuesday night. "I am very thankful for that support and it motivates me to continue to work like I have since I was elected in 1994, to do the very best job I can."
Now that he has retained his seat, Harris said he will continue to focus on several important areas.
"We will continue to create job opportunities and make sure that young people will get the best education they can," Harris said. "And when they get a great education, then they'll have great jobs."
The senate will also work toward continuing to be "fiscally responsible," Harris said.
"Any time we get a chance to lessen the tax burden on families so that they can take their hard-earned money and put it to good use, that's good," Harris said. "We will continue to reduce taxes and we have to continue to be fiscally responsible."
At the start of the new year, Harris, currently Senate president, will begin his second and final term, due to term limits. The Ashland resident, who served in the Ohio House of Representatives, was appointed to the Senate in August 2000 to replace Sen. Dick Schafrath when he retired. Harris finished Schafrath's term, then had to run in November 2000 to keep the seat. He ran for his first full term in 2002.
Burkhart has sought the 76th District state House seat, the 4th District U.S. Congressional seat and the 16th District U.S. Congressional seat since 1980.
Tuesday night, Burkhart said he was pleased with how efficient his campaign had gone.
"The reason I entered the race was to help (Ted) Strickland and (Sherrod) Brown win," Burkhart said. "I'm pretty surprised with the results, considering we only spent $3,000."
Burkhart said he had known the district was largely Republican, especially, he added, in Delaware County, and though he hoped to win the seat, he knew it would be tough.
Burkhart doesn't think he will consider running for a political office "of this magnitude" in the near future, he said.
"I don't mind losing, as long as the message got out and people knew who I was," he added. "I congratulate Bill on the victory. We challenged him and that was the point."
n Megan Edwards can be reached at 419-281-0581, ext. 239, or medwards@times-gazette.com.